"Mr. Kingsley," John said, looking at him carefully. He was dressed in slacks and a collared shirt and wore a conservative tie. Despite his heavily Japanese features his voice carried not a trace of an accent. "I'm a bit confused as to why you came to us with this business proposition. Surely there are hundreds of accounting firms in Los Angeles who are more familiar with handling large amounts of money from an entertainment personality?"
"I'm sure there are," Jake said. "But I don't know any of those people. I do know Jill. I've known her since we were both in kindergarten. Do you remember when I used to come over to your house to play when we were kids?"
"I do remember," John said. "That was back in the second and third grade, as I recall. You've certainly changed a lot since then and so has Jill."
"I knew Jill all through school," Jake said. "We weren't really close friends anymore after sixth grade or so, but I still knew her. She was always one of the smartest girls in class, always dedicated to whatever it was she was doing, and it is my belief, based on what I knew of her and her upbringing back then, that she is a fine accountant. I prefer to go with people I know rather than people I don't know. If there's one thing I've learned in my time in Hollywood is that everyone is trying to take some sort of advantage of everyone else. I don't want a Hollywood accountant. I don't want a large firm. I want someone with some humanity."
"Jill is indeed a fine accountant," John said. "But again, we're not used to dealing with the amounts of money you're talking about, nor are we the least bit familiar with taxation of entertainment revenue. We keep books for small businesses here — restaurants, hardware stores, bakeries, that sort of thing."
"Accounting is accounting, isn't it?" Jake asked. "And tax laws are something that people like you are supposed to be good at looking into, right?"
"Well... yes," John agreed. "But... well..."
"Look," Jake said, "in the first place, the amount of money we're talking about is probably not nearly as much as you seem to think it is — at least not now. I have a million and a half in the bank and Pauline is about to deposit another hundred and eighty grand in tour profits. My next royalty check should be coming in sometime in January and it will be somewhere around a hundred and fifty grand, depending on how many albums we sell. I'm not a Rockefeller or anything."
"Is that all?" Laura, Jill's mother asked, surprised. "You've sold millions of albums."
"It's a long story," Jake said. "The people making most of the money from those albums are the kind folks at National Records. A good chunk of my income came from an endorsement contract I have with Fender Guitars."
"Interesting," said Jill, who had been mostly silent to this point.
"So what exactly do you want us to do?" John asked. "If you're looking for us to engage in any sort of 'creative' accounting or to help shield you from taxation, I should let you know right now, we do not condone or participate in that sort of thing. We play completely straight with our clients. We are honest people and we do not help others engage in dishonesty."
"That is exactly what I'm looking for, Mr. Yamashito," Jake said. "I want an accountant who will keep me out of trouble, who will keep the IRS from ever being able to say I'm not paying my taxes and who will keep me from spending more money than I should be. I want advice on how to distribute my money, how to invest it. I will be a pain in the ass at times, I have no doubt about that. I like to spend money frivolously. For instance, I spent nine thousand dollars to pay for a ride home from Seattle in a Lear Jet just so I wouldn't have to sit on the bus another day. I like to live in nice accommodations, drink the finest wines, smoke the finest cigars, and go on spur-of-the-moment trips to exotic locations. When I'm involved with a woman I want to spend outrageously on her. I don't want lectures on how to best conserve my money and make it grow, but I want an accountant who will tell me when I'm starting to go overboard and head toward debt. That is what I'm looking for. And I want Jill to be that accountant. Do you think she can handle it?"
"I know she can handle it," John said. "The problem is that I don't think this firm is prepared to handle you. I'm sorry, but I must respectfully decline your offer. If you'd like, I can give you the name of several Heritage firms where I know the accountants to be above board."
"You haven't even heard how much I'm willing to pay for your services," Jake said.
"It doesn't matter," Laura said. "My husband is right, Mr. Kingsley. We are a small business oriented firm and representing a rock and roll musician is just beyond our capabilities."
"Uh... Dad," Jill suddenly spoke up. "Could we maybe talk about this a little?"
"There's nothing to talk about, Jill," John said gently. "Your mother and I have made our decision."
"I think you made a poor decision," she said.
Her parents looked shocked at her words. "Jill," John said firmly, "I've said no to Mr. Kingsley. That is the end of the discussion."
"No," she said, "it's not. I think Jake is offering us a unique opportunity to expand into new areas here. I think we would be unwise to dismiss him without at least a sober consideration of his offer."
"Jill," Laura said, "this is not..."
"I want to do this," Jill said stubbornly. "This is something different than the restaurants and the hardware stores that are barely in the black. I can do this and I want to do this."
John and Laura were obviously quite upset and embarrassed by the failure of their daughter to provide a united family front. "Jill," Laura said through clenched teeth, "we can discuss this later. For now, the answer is still no."
"I think we should talk about this now," Jill said. "I think it's time you stopped treating me like an apprentice and started treating me like what I'm supposed to be here — a partner in this firm. I want to take Jake as a client. I think it will be good for the firm in many ways beyond the money he would be paying us. I will take responsibility for his account and I will do all the necessary research on entertainment income."
"What about our other clients?" John asked. "It sounds like Mr. Kingsley's account would take up a considerable amount of time. Our core clients cannot be made to suffer because of this."
"They won't suffer," Jill said. "I'll work whatever hours need to be worked in order to get everything done on time. You should know that."
John reluctantly nodded. "Yes," he said. "I guess I do know that."
"So what's the word?" asked Jake, who had watched the entire discussion the way one watches a tennis match, his head looking from one to the other.
John and Laura looked at each other, having a silent conversation in a way that only long-married couples can. Finally they seemed to reach some sort of consensus. "Okay," John said. "We'll give it a try, Mr. Kingsley."
Jake smiled. "Very good," he said. "I take it that Jill does not rebel against you too terribly often?"
John laughed. "This is the first time," he admitted. "I wasn't quite sure how to handle it."
"I'm sorry, Dad," Jill said, blushing, looking down at the ground, her bravado now safely buried again. "I didn't mean to... I mean I shouldn't have... I mean..."
"It's okay, Jill," John said. "It's obvious you feel strongly about this so we'll let you run with it." He looked sharply over at Jake. "Of course I'll be supervising what occurs to make sure no funny business is being suggested to her."
"Of course," Jake said, nodding. "And, of course, Pauline here will be providing oversight for everything. All of the money comes through her first. You will keep Pauline honest and she will keep you honest and I will go about the lifestyle my talent has graciously provided me with. Shall we talk terms now?"